Re: Why does Jamie include MILK in the Food Revolution?

Hi Ms Kira!My husband & I, are dairy farmers residing in New Zealand!As, Ashen, has outlined above our Dairy Company enforces the same regulations as Canada does....ALL antibiotics/pencillins are strictly prohibited & yes, the whole tanker-load of milk is considered contaminated & discarded if any has gone into the milk vat & a hefty fine is given.

MILK is a great source of calcium, for the wellbeing of our bones & teeth!

I'm sorry to hear, if other countries don't follow strict guidelines to ensure your milk is free of contaminations. I am unclear on the procedure of pasteurizing our milk - which is essentially to kill-off any bugs/germs.

Re: Why does Jamie include MILK in the Food Revolution?

rBGH is a real fear in the US.

I can't post links yet, but look up "Bovine somatotropin" in Google and go to the Wikipedia article (first result on my screen).

Check that out. "The United States is the only developed nation to permit humans to drink milk from cows given artificial growth hormone. Posilac was banned from use in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and all European Union countries (currently numbering 27), by 2000 or earlier."

Also note: "In Canada, bulk milk products from the United States that have been produced with rBST are still allowed to be sold and used in food manufacture (cheese, yogurt etc.). In the EU, dairy products from the US are banned from import."

Furthermore, if you read that all the way through, you see the politicians over there are continually trying to ban labelling of milk as using artificial hormones or not using them. The big companies want to make money the cheapest way they can, and they want Americans to not be able to make a free and informed choice about what they are buying. They lobby the politicians and the politicians try to do their bidding.

The US is a very.... different culture when it comes to food/drink. Not the people, but the companies. The opening poster's fears are justified, I'm afraid. (Even though she goes OTT with it, she's not completely wrong)

Re: Why does Jamie include MILK in the Food Revolution?

Milk in australia does not concern me at all. I believe we also have very strong regulations on it and feel safe consuming milk and milk products. I personally think it is good for people to have all information they can on foods and then choose for themselves if they want to consume it or not. Of course even with info some people either would have no interest, or possibly no understanding, of the concerns. I just don't like to say 'Do not eat this...' as we could say that about so many things and end up with a very restricted, possibly unbalanced diet. And as can be seen by this discussion, food production varies from country to country, so what may be the case in one country is not the case in another. Foods also affect individuals differently.

Personally I think there is much more bad food out there that people eat regularly - just look at the amount of processed foods eaten in many first world countries versus fresh, unprocessed foods. I don't think milk is a bad thing when you look at the overall food supply. And for anyone that wants to avoid dairy milk, there are many alternatives available and many from non-animal sources.

Re: Why does Jamie include MILK in the Food Revolution?

Re: Why does Jamie include MILK in the Food Revolution?

Ashen wrote:

I have some problems with the way milk is processed but not with drinking milk per se.. There definetly are differences between countries though..

Milking hormones are strictly illegal in Canada, and in many other countries I suspect. This is not the case in the USA though. The use of anti-botics in milking herds in Canada are very specifically regulated . If an animal becomes sick they are quarantined for the duration , and if anti-botics are used they cannot rejoin the milking herd til there is no antibotics detected in their milk.

The use of antibotics and hormones is strictly monitored in milking herds in Canada. Every load of milk sent from a dairy farm to a dairy is tested for these things and if it is found the entire load is destroyed.. This means that Canadian dairy farmers are very stringent about following the regulations as it is very costly to make a mistake , nevermind try to cheat .

As to the point about pre-humans and ancestor humans not developing osteoporosis. Anyone stopping to think about this for a moment can see the fallacy of this argument. How many pre-hominids or early hominids lived past 20 years old to become fossils??

This doesn't mean I am happy with the milk I buy at the market.Having been able to drink whole raw milk in the past I know just how different the product most people call milk is from the actual product that comes straight from the source.

Enforced pasturization of all milk for sale is something I have a problem with. I am not advocating a ban on it , simply that it is possible to safely provide unpasturized milk to those who want it . There are dairies running in many countries that have been able to do this succesfully .

Homogenization is another issue I have..The practice is a monymaker for most dairies though.

Before homogenization, dairies would deliever milk and people would let the fat float to the top and then they would skim most of the cream off to use for coffee and baking and drink the mostly fat free milk beneath.

then they came up with homogenization and if you wanted cream you needed to buy it separately. Also they started skiming milk to different % of MF. and selling it that way. Now most dairies 100% skim the milk that is shipped in. They then add back the milk fat to exact %'s and then homogenize.

As a general rule I hate to buy any food product that has been overly processed. The way modern daires process milk makes it a very different thing from what comes out of a cow.

There is some definite questions that need answering in a possible link between homogenization and allergies in my mind. The homogenization proccess bascially tears apart the milk fat globules to such small particles they can't clump together again. These particles are small enough to pass through the gut wall and in the body it is plausible that the immune system could view them as a threat causing immune system allergy reactions in some people.

I can buy an organic, non-homogenized milk, sold in glass bottles (for return and refund) with the cream layer on top. Even though I don't care for milk, I can tell when I use it in coffee and so on, it's better than the homogenized stuff. I also feel the glass bottle is a factor in why it tastes better.

If organic food is not affordable, I think it's a good idea to choose organic in some products like milk. I've heard apples and grapes too, because they are the most consumed fruits by kids and farmed with the most pesticides.

Re: Why does Jamie include MILK in the Food Revolution?

Ms P I have heard the strawberries are also farmed with lots of pesticides. I can also get unhomogenised milk from my greengrocers and it is very good. I have read a bit about raw milk but it is illegal in Australia. Milk here must be treated to a certain temperature before it can be sold for food safety reasons. Although I have lived on a farm and had raw milk regularly without any bad effects but then I guess we were getting the milk super fresh. It's not that easy to get milk in glass bottles but I also think it tastes better. I can also get organic cream in glass bottles and it is fab but I rarely buy it as it is so expensive.

Become a member of jamieoliver.com for free and access loads of lovely stuff around the site.
You'll get Jamie's latest recipes and food tips direct to your inbox, take advantage of exclusive promotions and offers, ask
Jamie and his team questions in the forums and enjoy your weekly newsletter too.

By submitting this form you consent to receiving news and updates from businesses in the Jamie Oliver Group of companies and the Jamie Oliver Food Foundation. You also agree to our terms and conditions found here.

I am not a robot.

We'd love to get to know you a bit better so we only send you

news and recipes that you want to read. If you've got two

minutes to spare, it would be great if you could answer a quick questionnaire.